“To be honest, I wasn’t even watching,” said Central Michigan senior running back Ontario Sneed about the 46-yard try. “I was looking at the crowd.”

 

Moments later the ball hit the right upright and the crowd of 21,032 erupted and CMU escaped with a 27-25 win.

 

“Football is a funny game, sometimes you have things go right for you at the end of the game and other times you don’t,” said UB coach Turner Gill. “It was a tough miss, but we will count on (Principe) the next time and the time after that.”

 

The Chippewas held a nine-point lead, 27-19, with 3:48 remaining after Sneed scored his second rushing touchdown.

 

But just more than two minutes later, Buffalo running back James Starks took a screen pass in the right flat from quarterback Drew Willy and cut left across the CMU defense for a 65-yard touchdown.

 

With 1:21 remaining, Principe’s onside kick bounced over the CMU coverage team. Chippewa sophomore Antonio Brown dropped the ball on the bounce and it rolled through his legs toward the sideline. Several Bulls players jumped on the ball and UB had the ball on its 42-yard line.

 

“We had it, and we need to come up with those,” said CMU coach Butch Jones.

 

Willy completed five passes to move the Bulls into field goal range. With three seconds remaining, Principe lined up for the win. The last-second finish conjured up memories of the Bulls’ 30-28 win Sept. 13 on Willy’s Hail Mary pass to Namaan Roosevelt.

 

“Coming off not one but two MAC championships, everyone’s going to be at their emotional high for playing us,” said CMU quarterback Dan LeFevour. “Everyone wants what we have. I expect the game to go down to the wire every single time I step on the field.”

 

LeFevour went 21-of-26 for 152 yards. It was the second time this season CMU won without a passing touchdown from the junior. But his real contributions came on the ground, as he rushed for 100 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown.

 

“As the game progressed, we saw that we could run the football,” LeFevour said. “And I think we definitely wanted to make a statement this week.”

 

Buffalo, which came into the game with the top run defense (it gave up just 108.2 yards to its previous four opponents), allowed 208 total yards to the Chippewas. In addition to LeFevour, Sneed carried 16 times for 77 yards and two touchdowns.

 

Sneed played with a deep bruise on his right thigh. Jones said he was a game-time decision. His 16-yard run at the end of the third quarter gave CMU a 17-11 lead.

 

“They just called the right plays against the defense,” he said. “The O-line got it done up front and we bust a couple big ones and got in the end zone.”

 

Starks didn’t disappoint either. Also a game-time decision because of a rib injury, he carried 22 times for 94 yards and added a touchdown. He also caught five passes for 97 yards.

 

An odd first half saw the two teams enter the locker room with Buffalo ahead 5-3. Buffalo struck with Principe’s field goal on its first possession, but would not enter Chippewa territory the rest of the half.

 

Meanwhile, CMU did not enter Bull territory until less than five minutes remaining in the half.

 

At the beginning of the second quarter, Buffalo’s Tom Drewes blocked CMU punter Brett Hartmann’s punt into the end zone. However Hartmann batted the ball out of bounds and minimized the damage.

 

“In 22-plus years of coaching college football, I’ve never been through a half like that,” Jones said. “Injuries started to mount up.”

 

Receiver Jean Pitts and long snapper Chris Starkey were among those who suffered undisclosed injuries.

 

Buffalo only totaled 84 total yards heading into halftime, while CMU had a modest 125.

 

“We just were never able to establish a rhythm, but the defense kept us in the game,” Jones said. “We knew going into halftime that we’d be alright going into the second half, we’d make the adjustments.”

 

The second half was dominated by offense. CMU received the ball to start and immediately began to move the ball. But a fumble by senior running back Justin Hoskins gave the ball back to UB.

 

“(The defense) showed a lot of improvement,” Gill said. “Our team continues to improve and that’s what we have to keep doing.”

 

But the Chippewa defense came up big on the next possession, stopping Starks on fourth-and-one near midfield. Central’s next drive ended with its first touchdown on LeFevour’s 3-yard run.

 

Willy was sacked three times, 2.5 of which came courtesy of defensive end Sam Williams. Willy finished with 270 yards on 23-of-33 passing with two touchdowns. Receiver Namaan Roosevelt caught seven passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.

 

The game was a little too close for Jones and the Chippewas.

 

“There’s too many of these. I think I’ve put about 15 years on since I’ve been here,” Jones said. “But it’s really rewarding. I think that’s the state of college football today, especially in the Mid-American Conference. Week in and week out, anybody can win. There’s such a fine line between winning and losing, and it’s inches.”

 

For Buffalo, Gill said he was proud of his team’s performance, but it needs to continue to improve.

 

“That’s why they are the two-time Mid-American Conference champions,” he said. “We can take a lot of positives out of this game, but we have to continue improving in all areas because there are some quality football teams in the Mid-American Conference that we’ll have to beat to get to where we want to be.”